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Ubisoft – E3 Conference Review﻿ 2017﻿

Ubisoft’s E3 conferences of the past few years have gained the reputation of being cheesy and dragging in certain areas. With a couple of high profile games to show off as well as rumours due to certain leaks they showed up to E3 with a point to prove. The question is did they manage to make an impact at the biggest gaming event of the year when they presented their conference lasting just over 70 minutes.﻿﻿

Below I will outline all of Ubisoft’s biggest announcements as well as giving a review of their show of a whole with a rating out of 10.

﻿Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

Ubisoft kicked off their show with arguably one of the most leaked games going into E3, Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle. Despite promotional images being leaked all over the internet what wasn’t to be expected was how good the gameplay looked. The reveal kicked off with the creator of Mario himself, Shigeru Miyamoto where he explained he wanted them to make a Mario game unlike before. They then revealed the gameplay which took the form of a turn based tactical adventure with crisp clean visuals and what seems to be fun diverse combat.

With fun characters to progress, weapons to upgrade and XCOM like gameplay, Mario and Rabbids Kingdom Battle certainly surprised a lot of people and looks to be a fantastic addition the the Nintendo Switch library.

Mario and Rabbids Kingdom Battle will be released August 29 2017.

Assassins Creed Origins

After its reveal on the Microsoft E3 conference Ubisoft once again too the opportunity to show off their latest game in the Assassin Creed franchise, Assassins Creed Origins. After a year off this entry in the series will see you playing in a beautifully created ancient Egypt with scorching deserts, lush oasis and of course, towering pyramids. Along with all the enemy combat you’d expect from this series you’ll also be fending off a variety of animals from hypos to crocodiles and lions.

Assassins Creed Origins is undoubtably one of the best looking games in the series but with gameplay mechanics appearing to stay true to the tested formula I’m not sure it will sway any critics of the previous instalments.

Assassins Creed Origins will be released October 27 2017.

The Crew 2

Ubisoft then picked the pace up with their debut of The Crew 2. The gameplay trailer they showed off included Inception like world bending, cars, boats, planes and all manor of environments to race across. Particularly impressive were the jungle environments they showed in the trailer and with the developers promising an open world to race across there are bound to be other incredible locations to test your skills.

The Crew 2 will be released in early 2018.

South Park The Fractured But Whole

After nuorous delays we are finally getting closer the the release of the of the much anticipated South Park The Fractured But Whole. With Ubisoft showing their latest gameplay trailer they once again demonstrated that this game will provide all the inappropriate jokes that both the TV series and previous game are famous for as well as delivering on a fun, engaging story to match.

South Park The Fractured But Whole will be released October 17 2017.

Skull and Bones

From the developers behind Assassins Creed Black Flag comes Ubisoft’s next game, Skull and Bones. Using what they learned with Black Flag this latest title embraces one of the most loved aspects of that Assassins Creed title, sailing a pirate ship. With the initial CG trailer out of the way we got to see an extended gameplay demo of the game in which you control your own pirate ship to complete objectives with friends or on your own and compete to become a pirate kingpin.

Learning to master not only your ship but also the seas in which you sail will be key to giving you the advantage in tactical Wars against rival and enemy ships. In the demo we got to see a 5v5 match with the objecting to collect the most loot and escaping once the time runs out.

Mechanically and visually this game looks very impressive. With you only in control of a ship however I have concerns over its long term replay value. Its success will likely be determined by the community of players it creates, but based on initial impressions I hope it manages to find that support.

Skull and Bones will be released in Fall of 2018.

Starlink Battle For Atlas

A Sci Fi space shooter with both physical and digital collectible ships is the promise Starlink Battle For Atlas puts forward. With an art style similar to seen in No Mans Sky this shooter will put you in control of a ship created out of not only digital ship parts but apparently also physical toys that can be configured on a mount for your controller. This mix of action shooter and collectable toys could once again prove a hit amounts fans if the designs catch on with collectors and the gameplay provided fun replay ability.
Starlink Battle For Atlas will release Fall of 2018.

Steep

Ubisoft then gave an update with a special surprised to their winter extreme sports game Steep. In celebration of the up and coming Winter Olympics in PyeongChang Steep will be receiving an update to include official merchandising as well as dissaplines and courses from the games themselves. With such a significant patner for the game it could be just the right move to attract new players as well as encourage previous players to revisit the game.

Steep Road to the Olympics expansion will be released in December 2017.

Far Cry 5

The heavy hitter at Ubisoft’s conference this year was of course Far Cry 5. Taking place in modern day American you will play as a local deputy sheriff and try to take down a radical doomsday cult. In the trailer shown at Ubisoft’s show they focussed on the fact that to win this war you might need some help. That help can come in a number of ways such as guns for hire, support dogs, air support or even a crazy truck driver. All of these options are sure to add moments of brilliant madness famous in Far Cry games as well as great variety to how you approach missions.

With Far Cry Primal receiving mixed reactions from core and casual fans alike Far Cry 5 looks to return the series to its brilliant heights with stunning visuals and crazy first person gameplay that sets this franchise apart from the typical first person shooter.

Far Cry 5 will be released February 28 2018.

Beyond Good and Evil 2

With what can only be described as the biggest show stopper of E3 2017 Ubisoft dropped a bombshell in announcing that the long sought after Beyond Good and Evil 2 is indeed in development. They announced this need with a stunningly good looking CG trailer with talking animals and a sprawling advanced city that wouldn’t seem out of place in a Star Wars film. The developers then outlined that they are working towards a seemless online experience where you and friends can play in this vast online playground and even mentioned ground to space travel with no load times.

The catch of this announcement, its not coming any time soon. With development still very much underway and no actual gameplay shown this game may not deliver on all its promises. Ubisoft what players to contribute to this game though and so announced the Space Monkey Program, which is live now, where players and developers with work together to bring this game to life.

The Conference

Ubisost delivered a stellar conference in all departments. Great games and huge surprises all while trimming the fat from previous years to allow the conference to flow and let the games shine. This presentation did exactly what it needed to do in making their up and coming games stand out as well as building hype for their titles to come in the coming years.

With great game after great game along with that massive reveal at the end of the show Ubisoft seriously raised their game from previous years and so for their 2017 E3 conference I give them﻿